Jessica Chastain to star in True Detective?

Jessica Chastain has reportedly been offered a lead role in the second season of hit HBO crime drama 'True Detective'

Jessica Chastain could star in the second season of 'True Detective'.

The Oscar-nominated starlet is being eyed to take one of the lead roles in the HBO detective drama, replacing Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, who earned critical acclaim for the first season earlier this year.

Executive producer Nic Pizzolatto is reportedly eager to have a female-led cast for the second season and has reached out to Jessica, 37, about taking on one of the roles.

'True Detective' follows an anthology format, which means each season has a completely different cast and different story.

It's not yet known if Jessica has accepted the part, Nerdist.com reports, but the show's critical acclaim has made it a very attractive proposition for Hollywood's A-list.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Brad Pitt could star in the second season.

A source said: "Brad is already part of the HBO family and if commitments allow he will be part of the second season of 'True Detective'. The quality of the scripts means the biggest A-listers in the world want the role."

Nic has already begun writing new episodes and has promised the new characters are very different from Matthew McConaughey's Rust Cohle and Woody's Marty Hart.

He said: He said: "I've got three characters I love right now, and they're all unique, and neither of them is Cohle or Hart."